Bound To Be Together
by ako94
Summary: Erin can't stand Jay.
1. Chapter 1

"Wanna come to the Hawks game with me?" Officer Jay Halstead asked his partner Erin Lindsay as they sat on a concrete wall at the Oak Street Beach. It was 84 degrees out and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. The last thing they wanted to be doing was stop people from bringing glass bottles to the beach while they wore heavy bulletproof vests and long black pants.

"What the hockey team?" she asked looking over at him, playing ignorant just to mess with him. She knew he had season tickets every year.

"No, the baseball team," Halstead replied sarcastically with a smirk, the one she couldn't stand.

Erin rolled her eyes and landed them elsewhere, "Just for that, no."

"Oh, come on."

"Come on, what?" she asked still looking around.

"It'll be a ton of fun, they're playing Minnesota, who doesn't even have a chance!"

Erin had been partners with Halstead since she got out of the academy almost three years ago. It didn't take long for her to glean that he loved hockey and naturally, the Chicago Blackhawks were his absolute favorite team.

"So which one of your friends bailed on you, Halstead?" Erin turned to look back at him with a knowing smirk.

Jay wasn't phased, "None. I'm asking you."

"How many times have you tried to get me to go to a game with you since we've met?" Erin asked. It wasn't just hockey games she'd been invited to, although those were the most common. Jay had also asked her to Bears, White Sox and Bulls games; he wanted nothing to do with the Cubs. How he got all these tickets, she had no idea.

"Why won't you come?" Jay asked, ignoring her question.

"I don't like sports, Halstead," she half snapped at him. She was actually indifferent but wasn't going to say that.

"You dont have to like them, its just a fun time," he persuaded.

"What's in it for me?" Erin asked, trying not to sound like she was giving in.

"A fun time," Jay repeated, "I'll buy you beer. Plus its a free ticket, you can't get much better than that."

"I can get a lot better than that but if you're gonna buy me beer I guess I don't have to be sober for it. Fine, I'll go, now shut up about it."

Jay smiled, proud of his first victory and didn't bring it up again.

"Want a hot dog?" Jay asked after a few moments of silence. The only upside to the scorcher was the Vienna Beef hot dog stand a few hundred feet away.

"Yeah, but last time I saw you try to put ketchup on mine and-" She was cut off.

"Lindsay, that was not ketchup that was hot sauce, which you love on them. Do you want one or not?" Jay asked; he was getting hungry.

"Sure," Erin answered, scanning the beach again. Jay nodded and stood up before heading over to the Vienna Beef stand.

The light concrete wall Erin sat on was getting as hot as an asphalt driveway. Behind her was a flight of stairs down to the the pedestrian tunnel that went under Lake Shore Drive. She could hear voices of people echoing in the tunnel, people who couldn't stand the heat and were leaving. She was almost jealous. She longed to take off the bullet proof vest that she was sweating profusely underneath.

Soon, everything was echoing. Her head was spinning. It felt like she was trying to keep herself awake. She couldn't.

"Help!" Jay heard from where he stood watching the vendor sprinkle celery salt on the Chicago Style dog he'd ordered. The patrolman's head snapped over to where the voice was coming from: the tunnel stairs. His partner was no longer perched atop the wall. The ten dollar bill fell out of his hand as he broke into a sprint. Sand wasn't an easy thing to run on but his time as an Army Ranger in Afghanistan had helped with that.

As Jay the area where he had been sitting with his partner mere minutes ago, he heard the same voice that had yelled for help, "Down here!" He peered down the flight of concrete steps and saw two people at the bottom. One was a man in his fifties, with concern written all over his face. The other was a slender woman in her mid twenties, lying unconscious on her back, with blood pooling around her head.

"Erin!" Jay cried out, running down the stairs as fast as he could and quickly mumbling a "thank you" to the man. He put a hand on her shoulder and lightly shook her, "Erin can you hear me?" he asked, even though he knew she was unconscious. He was about to radio for an ambulance before he realized that it would take them a while to get down the tunnel and up to the beach. Thinking on his feet, he tore off his shirt and wrapped it around her head to somewhat stanch the bleeding. Sweeping her up into his arms he made his way into the cool damp tunnel. It was like a black hole from the sunlight. The fluorescent lights between the wall and the ceiling were coated with black spiders and their webs. He smiled as he remembered Erin saying once that she hated that.

As soon as he got back up to street level and to their squad car he gently laid his partner in the passenger side. He felt a pang in his chest at the sight of her unconscious and bleeding, and knew that were she awake, she'd be ripping into him for the fact that he was bare chested with his shirt around her head.

Jay flipped on the lights and sirens and drove off.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2! This story is my baby now because I actually have a beginning and an end. Middle not so much but I can work around that. Thank you SO much to the deepest secret for helping me when I was brain dead and couldn't think of anything. Also to imthequeenoffandoms for coming up with the whole plot of this story with me. Happy birthday to her! So this is the longest chapter I've ever posted so congrats to me. Enjoy!**

"Halstead?" Erin Lindsay asked deliriously from her hospital bed. Jay Halstead hadn't left her bedside since she'd been admitted to Chicago Med that morning with severe dehydration and a fractured skull.

"Hey, you're up," Jay smiled after opening his eyes. He had finally been able to doze off for the first time since the doctors had left her to rest up.

"My head hurts," Erin moaned, putting her hand to her head and getting confused when she felt a bandage.

"You passed out from dehydration and fell off the ledge. You hit your head on the concrete and got a concussion. There's a bunch of stitches too," Jay summarized for her. He had held onto the doctors' and nurses' every words and by then could probably tell her what had happened better than a medical professional.

"Oh." She was silent for a moment, "Where's your shirt?" she inquired, noticing him with a thin hospital blanket wrapped around his bare upper torso.

"I used it to bandage up your head. You know, most people faint _after_ I take off my shirt." There was that smirk she couldn't stand. He always did that like they were some sort of friends with a level of intimacy that, in reality, _wasn't_ there. Erin didn't like to play friends with her coworkers, she became a cop to do a job, to keep Chicago safe. Halstead just refused to accept that.

On most days she wondered if he was being deliberately obtuse or just painfully ignorant to her obvious desire for distance. Right now, her budding headache did nothing to help his case, so she chose to dignify that comment with nothing but silence and an unamused look.

"So why are you here?" She asked bluntly. Looking out the window she could see that it was dark out; she'd obviously been there a while.

"Because you're my partner," Jay told her. Why wouldn't he be there? He was a bit dumbfounded as to why she would even ask him that. What kind of partner- what kind of person did she think he was? He would have waited a week in that uncomfortable hospital chair rather than leave her to wake up alone. The shock from seeing her unconscious and hurt on those concrete steps still held a tight grip on him. Of course he had to make sure she was going to be okay.

Before she could even respond, Jay's brother, Doctor Will Halstead, walked in wearing a white lab coat over blue scrubs.

"Officer Lindsay, you're up! How are you feeling?" He smiled, an identical one to her partner's, as he checked her pupils.

"Been better," she grumbled. Her head was pounding despite heavy dose of the pain meds she was on and she felt nauseous. She told him her symptoms. If she had been standing up she probably would have been swaying.

"That's to be expected with a head injury," her partner's brother reassured her, "You've got a moderate concussion, we don't need to keep you overnight, just take it easy for a few days. We've also stitched up your head and pumped you with fluids. You were pretty dehydrated. Unless you have any questions, we can probably discharge you pretty soon here. Do you have someone to stay with you?" Will asked her.

"Me. She'll stay at my place," Jay stated rather than suggesting before she even had a chance to utter a word. She definitely would not have said this. Erin wondered what the hell was going on in her partner's head.

"That's actually a good idea," Will agreed, to which Erin groaned internally. It was the last thing she wanted, "That way I can keep an eye on you when I'm home."

"What?" Erin asked, now utterly confused.

"He lives with me," Jay explained. Of course he did. Today was her lucky day.

With a sigh Erin resigned herself to a few long (and she was sure torturous) days at Jay's apartment. She was too tired and drugged to care. "Just...go sign stuff so I can leave."

* * *

"So, I'll take the couch, you can have my bed." Jay volunteered as he welcomed Erin into his orange and brown toned apartment. After leaving the hospital, they had stopped by her apartment to pick up enough things for her to stay with him for a few days. Jay had offered to grab stuff for her later, but there was no way in hell she would let him go through her things. When they'd gotten to her place, Erin pleaded with him to let her stay right where they were, but Jay (and her throbbing headache) had won and after an exhausting packing session, they'd headed back to Jay's.

"That one?" Erin asked, pointing to her left. The pocket doors to Jay's bedroom were open, revealing an extremely comfy looking king sized bed.

Jay nodded, "Yeah, Will's is down that hallway, it's atrocious in there," he said with a chuckle and pointed a thumb in the general direction of his one guest room before bringing Erin's bags into his bedroom. She followed him, passing a dark colored leather couch and briefly wondered how her tall partner would ever sleep comfortably on it before deciding that she didn't care; as long as her concussed head was comfortable.

As Jay was setting Erin's bags against the wall, she was already climbing under the puffy duvet and making herself comfortable. "Do you want the TV remote, or some water or anything?" Jay asked nervously, almost afraid that she'd bite his head off for being too overbearing.

Erin almost shook her head, but remembered how much of a bad idea that would've been and resigned to mumbling a "no" before letting her eyes close and falling asleep.

Jay wasn't surprised at how fast she'd fallen asleep, considering how lethargic she'd been since she'd woken up at the hospital. He grabbed some blankets and a pillow from a chest at the foot of his bed before turning the light off, sliding the door closed and making the short walk to his couch. A couch that he knew he wouldn't be getting a good night's sleep on. He set his alarm to wake her every so often and settled into a restless sleep.

* * *

"Will?" Jay said as he woke up late the next night around 11pm. Someone was making noise in the kitchen but he couldn't see from his line of sight on the couch.

"Erin," his partner corrected from where she was rummaging through the fridge. She'd been asleep for nearly 24 hours and was finally starting to feel better. And hungry.

Jay shot up from the couch and began to make his way to the kitchen, "Erin, are you okay?" he asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I'm hungry, You don't have anything good to eat either," she commented without turning to look at him. Jay was standing in the doorway now, wearing nothing but a pair of black sweatpants.

"Yeah, I'm not home all that often, so food spoils quickly," he reasoned awkwardly. He should've asked Will to pick up some groceries earlier, of course she'd be hungry when she woke up. "I have soup I can make, do you want some?"

Erin stood up and finally turned around to face him, "Yeah sure." Her eyes followed her partner as he pushed off the doorway and went to the cabinets, producing three different cans.

"Chicken noodle, clam chowder or tomato?" Jay rattled off with a grin.

"Clam chowder," Erin chose and sat on the lone chair across the room as he prepared the soup.

"So how's your head?" he asked after a few moments of silence.

"Better." This was weird. Normally she barely talked to him and now she was sitting in his kitchen watching him make her soup.

"Good," Jay said watching her as she sat on the counter and swung her legs back and forth.

The conversation, or what little there was to begin with, died down. Fortunately, the soup was ready within a few minutes and Jay ladled it into two bowls. Erin took hers and went to the couch in the attempt to escape the awkward silence.

"Can I sit?" Erin looked up at her partner who was standing there expectantly.

With an inward groan, Erin slowly and almost sarcastically nodded, "It's your couch."

He sat down carefully, a good measure away from her. She almost laughed at him. It was like he was afraid of her. Biting her tongue before she said another not so nice thing, she turned to the TV. He really didn't deserve the attitude she'd given him, she knew that. He had been nothing but nice since she had come to his apartment, not that she would ever admit that out loud.

"What?" He asked her as he grabbed the remote to turn the TV on before flicking to the Netflix app. He had noticed her eyeing him with a smirk. "You were going to say something. Just spit it out!"

"No, I wasn't." She tried to play it cool, but couldn't prevent the small smile from appearing on her lips. He never missed anything when it came to her.

"Uh-uh. Whatever, Erin." He laughed, turning back to the TV.

"Shut up Halstead, and give me the remote we're not watching this!"

"Then what, oh jeez, Grey's Anatomy?" he asked, rolling his eyes and leaning back on the couch as he balanced the nearly empty bowl of soup on the arm rest.

"Yeah, it's good, I'm in the middle of season seven," Erin replied, already engrossed in the show. She'd been working on binge watching in her free time over the past month or so and she absolutely loved it.

Half an hour later, her eyes were still firmly trained on the TV, but Jay was fighting to stay awake. He normally would have been sleeping at 1:02am, but since the couch temporarily served as his bed, he had no choice but to stay. The only thing that kept him occupied was watching Erin as she reacted to what happened on screen. She didn't even notice when Jay would glance at her, nor when he finally had enough of the medical drama and got up to head to the kitchen.

"Ow," Erin mumbled something cold was placed on her bare knees a few minutes later and she was snapped out of the the fictional world at Seattle Grace Hospital. Her eyes darted from the flatscreen to what was now on her lap. It was a bowl of cookies & cream ice cream with a liberal amount of chocolate syrup, incidentally, her favorite flavor and topped exactly how she liked it. "How did you-" Erin began but was cut off.

"A few months ago we had a conversation about ice cream after we responded to the call at the that Baskin Robbins got held up, remember? And you said that they don't give you enough chocolate syrup at ice cream shops," Jay recalled nonchalantly. He internally cringed afterwards, as he realized that she might be a little weirded out that he remembered little things like that about her.

Erin stared at him incredulously before giving him a sincere smile, "Thanks, Jay." He clearly knew her so much better than she knew him and for a moment she almost regretted how little she had cared to get to know him.

Jay watched in amusement as Erin practically inhaled the ice cream and then proceeded to curl in on herself and into the corner of the couch. He reached out and took her empty bowl for her, which gave her an extra arm to cross over her chest. Letting out a laugh, he reached behind him for the down throw he kept draped over the back of the couch.

"Slow down there, Frosty, did you get a brain freeze?" Erin looked up at him, her miserable expression eliciting more chuckles from him. She slowly shook her head and followed him with her eyes as he gently laid the blanket over her shivering body. "Better?"

Erin nodded as her face relaxed, looking over at him and giving him the second sincere smile of the night. He knew her moves before she even made them and paid attention to things about her that she herself didn't. Maybe she had misjudged the guy.

About an hour later, Jay noticed Erin struggling to keep her eyes open. A new episode of Grey's Anatomy had just begun, opening with gratuitous aerial shots of Seattle. He figured she wouldn't be awake that much longer, so he decided to quickly clean up their dishes before getting ready for the night. As he stood up, his arm bumped the bowl he'd set on the armrest earlier, sending cold clam chowder splattering down his black shirt and pants.

"Shit," he mumbled, loud enough to attract Erin's attention. She immediately burst out in laughter at the sight of her soup covered partner standing frozen in place.

"I'm…gonna go shower," he said watching Erin laugh herself into tears at his expense. He didn't mind at all. He loved her laugh, he couldn't get enough of it.

After Jay placed the bowls in the dishwasher he hopped into the shower to wash off any potential dried clam chowder stink.

Meanwhile, Erin had finally dragged herself off of the couch, and headed back to Jay's bed. She knew she wouldn't be awake for much longer.

She'd just set foot into the bedroom when the en suite bathroom door swung open and out walked her partner, clad in nothing but a loose towel around his lower half.

"Oh, sorry," Erin mumbled, catching his attention. Jay obviously hadn't known she wasn't still out in the living room on the couch and gave her a deer in headlights look. "I thought you'd bring clothes to the bathroom," she explained stupidly.

"No! I should've. Sorry. I thought you were still in there. I thought you fell asleep," Jay apologized haphazardly, his chiseled chest and abs still dripping with water. His hair was a mess from being toweled dry. Erin moved to turn away but she couldn't, she was paralyzed.

After a few moments of silence and staring he spoke again, "I'll-so I'll just grab my stuff and change in the bathroom. Are you going to bed?" Erin nodded and he smiled, "Okay, goodnight."

"Night, Jay."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3! So soon! I'd like to thank coffeebeanner for all her help on this one!**

"Erin, no, I told you we're not watching Grey's Anatomy anymore," Jay Halstead nearly whined as he walked back to the couch from the kitchen. His partner, Erin Lindsay sat flipping through episodes on Netflix. He walked by, swiftly swiped the remote from her hand and sat down on the other end of the couch.

"Halstead come on!"

Jay said nothing as he scrolled through his list on the screen looking for something that they'd both enjoy. Nope, not that...not that either...just watched that...

"Halstead give me the remote!" Erin snapped after a few minutes of silence, criss-crossing her legs and pivoting on the couch cushion so she was facing him. "You haven't found anything yet, it's been a good five minutes." He had that damn smirk on his face again.

"Erin, it's my TV," Jay said putting on a pseudo serious face; another face Erin couldn't stand.

"I'm your guest," she argued selfishly, "And don't give me that face, Halstead."

"What face?" he asked genuinely confused.

"Your serious face! It doesn't even look serious because you stick in a pouty lip like a puppy to get your way!" Erin was almost pissed off. She sat back against the armrest behind her.

"I've never been told that before," Jay admitted with a short laugh. He didn't make a puppy face, did he? He didn't try to. "Either way, people only have problems with pouty faces because they

can't resist them. Is that the case here with my supposed puppy lip?"

Jay had figured Erin out before she had and that didn't sit well with her. "N-No, don't flatter yourself." The sentence had started off with a stutter and quickly turned snappy.

"Well it must; that's how I have the remote right now and you don't," Jay laughed at her sudden uncomfort.

Before Erin even realized it, she had launched herself across the couch at him, lunging for the remote. Jay's quick reflexes acted in time and he held it high above his head in the hand furthest from her. He felt a weight on him and looked down to see Erin, who had lost her balance, collapsed and was nearly laying on top of him.

Erin didn't move. Her body was splayed over his lap and half of his chest. As a result of her attack, Jay was no longer sitting straight up, but halfway laying down. She couldn't move her head much in either direction and was forced to look him in the eye. He was warm, and way more muscular than she'd ever imagined. The most amazing aroma greeted her nose. She wasn't sure what the smell was, but it seemed to be a mixture of his body wash, gun oil, leather, and his natural masculine scent. She loved it. For the tiniest moment her eyes flickered to his lips before snapping back to his eyes as she realized what she had been about to do. She couldn't; this was still her ever annoying partner. What was she doing? Too close! For her suddenly muddled brain, however, that notion didn't seem quite enough to make her to pull away. So she stayed where she was, her eyes trained on his.

Jay stared down at Erin, paralyzed. He couldn't move even if he'd wanted to. He had the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen laying on top of him. If he said something, she would snap out of it and move. He stayed silent.

"Hey, I- woah, nevermind!"

At the sound of Will Halstead's voice, Erin was snapped back to reality. She frantically scrambled off of her partner and back to the opposite side of the couch.

"Whatcha guys doing?" Will asked in a teasing tone and grinned, leaning against the wall. His hair and clothes were absolutely soaked with rain.

"She wants the remote," Jay stated simply as he sat straight and adjusted himself.

"Oh is that it?" Erin blushed at Will's words.

"Shut up, Will," Jay mumbled.

"Haha, I'm kidding," Will laughed to himself and went to stand in front of Erin, "How's your head feel?"

"I have a slight headache but I haven't taken any painkillers since this morning and it's what, nine now?" Erin said. It had been almost 24 hours since she'd woken up from her long nap and almost 48 since she left the hospital. Despite going to bed early that morning, she had still woken up at eight-o-clock. She was getting tired.

"That's good, you're probably good to go home now," he gestured to the window where a strong thunderstorm with torrential rain was raging, "But it's crazy out and there's accidents and flooding all over. I'm lucky I got out of work before we got hit with traumas."

Erin stood up; Jay knew what she was doing, "Erin, you're not going out in that, I'll drive you home tomorrow." Oh, yeah, her car was still at the district. She'd gone from work to the hospital and from the hospital to Jay's. Dammit. She sat back down and sighed heavily.

"I don't care what we watch," Erin resigned and laid down on the couch with her head on a balled up blanket.

Will took a seat on one of the arm chairs and held out his hand. Jay tossed the remote at him and he selected episodes of M*A*S*H to watch.

A half hour or so later, Will's pager went off. He stood up, "Yeah, I knew this would happen. Let's hope I don't end up in the ER trying to get to work."

"Be safe," Jay told him from his spot on the couch.

"I will. See you," Will grabbed a coat and umbrella, (thankfully he'd dried off for the most part by then) and headed out.

Once Will was gone, Jay looked over at Erin, noticing she was fast asleep. How long had she been out?

Jay stood up from his seat and walked over to where Erin was sleeping, gently sliding each hand under her knees and back, lifting her into his arms. Thankfully she stayed asleep, but he didn't miss when she yawned and leaned her head on his shoulder. He walked the short distance to his bed and gently laid her down.

The second her body touched the mattress, her eyes fluttered open. She was met with Jay's baby blue orbs, although they were closer than usual. Neither of them moved, they just stared. Jay softly stammered, "You fell asleep on the couch, I-"

His sentence was cut off by her lips. Had she just-? Jay couldn't breathe. His heart raced. He felt her delicate hands in his hair, pulling his head closer to hers. Only then did he fully comprehend what was going on enough to kiss back. Of course she tasted wonderful, he always knew she would. Her lips were soft and her kisses gentle, but **hungry.**

As Jay slowly slipped his hands out from behind her back and underneath her knees, Erin snaked her hands around his neck. She had him so close to her, yet he was still standing at the side of the bed in the position he'd laid her down at. He adjusted his balance by putting one knee on the bed. Feeling half of her partner's weight sink the bed slightly, Erin pulled him down so that the only way for him to catch his balance was to put his other knee on the other side of her in a straddle He stared at her before capturing her lips in a passionate kiss. One he'd been aching to give her for so long.

Jay felt her hands on his skin and suddenly his shirt was being peeled off of him. Erin gently traced her fingers over Jay's toned chest. He watched, taking shallow breaths as she outlined each of his abs, admiring the slight flinches of his muscles as they contracted to her delicate touch. She moved her caresses to his arms. Moving her hands from his shoulders, down his biceps, she applied pressure to the tight muscles. She never really realized how sculpted his body actually was.

As amazing as her hands felt as they roamed his body, Jay needed to feel her. Erin ceased her touched when she felt Jay's hands press against her jean clad hips. Locking his thumbs in the denim belt loops, he brushed his other fingers to her exposed stomach as her tank top rode up slightly.

Erin watched as Jay had a slight struggle with her belt, huffing in frustration at his failed attempts. Erin swatted his hands away as she lifted her hips off the bed, undoing her belt. Jay took the time to kick free of his owns pants and Blackhawks printed boxers. He moved back to his previous position, a small smile on his face as he admired the rather lacy pair of underwear Erin wore.

Jay was lost in his thoughts as he focused on the beauty of Erin's toned, tanned legs as he pulled her underwear down them slow and seductively. A small chuckle escaped his lips at way her painted toes curled as he moved the lacy scrap off. Jay swiftly slid them the rest of the way off, tossing them into the pile of discarded clothes. As he turned back to look at her, she was now sitting up and the tank top she wore was gone. Jay let out a low groan admiring the way her breasts filled the bra perfectly, the padding giving her ample amount of cleavage.

Jay reached around her torso, and a moment later, her bra straps slid down her shoulder as the last piece of clothing was discarded. Jay mimicked Erin's actions from before, rubbing his hands along the length of Erin's arm; he too traced her abs before he brushed his thumb to the underside of her breast. Erin needing more than a touch, crashed her lips to his.

He moved so he was hovering over her, causing her to lay back down beneath him. Jay lined his hips up with hers and cupped her cheek, softly kissing her as he slid into her. He felt how ready she was for him. As he thrusted slowly into her, pressing her deeper into the comforter covered mattress, the friction of their two bodies joined intensifying their new found passion.

Jay moved on of his arms from Erin's side to the back of her leg, bringing it up so it was resting behind his back. Erin followed suit bringing her other leg to his back, causing him to dip deeper between her walls. She let out a soft moan, throwing her head back and closing her eyes. Jay began softly kissing her neck, collarbone and shoulder, which elicited sighs of pleasure from her. Her sighs were silenced as Jay's lips moved back up to lips. Erin raked her fingers up and down his back before toying with the small hairs at the nape of his neck. She moved her hands from his neck to let her fingers comb through his soft hair.

Soon, they were both covered in a sheen of sweat, sighing and moaning. Jay's thrusts became sloppier and Erin dug her nails deeper into his skin. They released simultaneously, their bodies spasming with pleasure. Jay collapsed onto Erin, catching his breath in the crook of her neck as she let out a few last soft moans into his ear. Then, it was silent, all that could be heard was their breathing. After a few minutes of coming down from their orgasms, Jay gave her a loving kiss and rolled off of her. He laid on his side and pulled her so her back was pressed into his chest. They fell asleep soon after.

* * *

The next morning, Erin's eyes fluttered open as they adjusted to the sun peaking through the blinds covering the windows. She was still in Jay's room, she'd been staying there for a few days, (almost against her will) after her concussion. She moved to roll onto her back but was met with resistance. The resistance moved. She froze, paralyzed. Then Resistance kissed her on the head. She knew that smell. Resistance was Jay.

Erin scrambled to sit up, pulling the white sheet that was tangled at her feet up to her naked body, "Ohhh no. No, no, no, no, no."

"Morning," Jay mumbled, looking up at her before yawning. It wasn't cute, the yawn was _not_ cute.

Erin pulled the sheet from Jay's hip as she got up from the bed, making sure to cover her bare backside when she stood to her feet. She turned to face the equally naked man in the bed, "What did you do!?"

Jay wiped the sleep from the corner of his eyes before he focused on Erin, "What do you mean?"

Erin ran around the room, holding the sheet to her body with one hand and picking up her clothes with the other, "Why did you allow that to happen!?"

"I- I thought it's what you wanted." A flash of regret and hurt ran through Jay's mind. "I thought we were on the same page." He cleared his throat, his voice still raspy from sleep, "after all you kissed me first."

"I don't know what that was. It was stupid whatever it was," Erin grumbled. She couldn't deny that she had kissed him first, but she could deny that she enjoyed it.

"Stupid?" Jay rubbed his face before running his hand through his hair, a groan of disbelief filled the room, "Seriously, Erin?"

"Seriously, Halstead." She wished that could have been the end of the conversation, but she was still getting dressed. Putting on clothes under a bed sheet while standing up was impractical and undoubtedly looked stupid, but she was determined not to let him get another peek of her.

Jay used the dark blue comforter to cover his exposed body as he stood up, padding his barefeet against the hardwood floor. He walked over to Erin, trying to stop her from moving anymore. He placed his hands firmly on her shoulders, Erin went to move from his grasp but failed to keep the sheet from falling. Her breast exposed and Jay's eyes caught a glimpse. Her breasts looked even as beautiful in daylight. His thoughts were quickly tossed as Erin's hand made hard contact with his stubble covered cheek. "What the hell, Erin?!" Jay watched as Erin quickly dressed in her tank top, caring less to put on her bra.

"Fuck this. I can't believe this, I'm so stupid. That was a mistake." She was jamming her things into her suitcase now. "My head's better, I'm going home," Erin finished, zipping the luggage up up and storming out.


	4. Chapter 4

**Woah that was fast too! I've got two amazing people helping me out,** coffeebeanner **and the** deepest secret **. This has become a fun group story I think. We've already got the next chapter mapped out too, so that shouldn't be too long either. It's so much easier when the story has a beginning middle and end and you've got three brains on it.**

 **Enjoy!**

"Keep the change," Erin Lindsay told the cabbie with a forced smile before stepping out of the white and turquoise taxi. She had taken it from Halstead's apartment to her own at 1601 S. Indiana. Pressing the button to extend the handle on her suitcase, she made her way towards the front door of her building, taking long, determined strides. Once in the elevator, she let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding. She was exhausted, frustrated and on edge; she couldn't wait to get back to her apartment she hadn't been there in days. Her partner, and his brother (who had unfortunately been her doctor) had convinced her to stay with them against her better judgement. She should have trusted her instincts. She had known it would be a bad idea. In her painkiller induced haze, however, she'd given in, somewhat as a ploy to get the hell out of the hospital.

Once she reached the third floor, Erin dug through her purse, finding her apartment keys to unlock her door. She was shaking, she was so mad at herself. Mad for letting her guard down around Halstead. For fucking sleeping with him. She was rock solid, no one got to her, but he had, and for that she felt ashamed.

After a few attempts the key went in and she turned it, opening the door, walking into the safety of her home and slamming it behind her. She hung her purse on the coat rack next to the door and wheeled her suitcase behind it. She tossed her keys in the small glass bowl she had on the sideboard table. Her phone vibrated in her back pocket, she sighed and checked it. A voicemail from none other than Halstead.

" _Erin, please call me. If you don't want to talk about today; fine. At least call me to let me know you got home safely."_ she could hear Jay let out a long sigh before ending, " _I'm sorry Erin."_

Erin deleted the message and placed her phone on silent before heading to the bathroom for a long hot shower. She turned on the shower and waited for it to warm up. As she stood in front of the mirror and stripped off the clothes she'd hurriedly put on just 45 minutes ago, she noticed something dark on her collar bone. The bastard had given her a fucking hickey. That was the last straw. Tears welled up in her eyes. Tears of shame and regret. She felt like a complete idiot for letting herself get caught up in him. She wiped furiously at her cheeks but new tears just kept replacing the ones she had swept away. Realizing the tears weren't going to stop any time soon, she gave up, letting out a deep ragged breath and stepped in the shower.

* * *

"So are we just not going to talk about what happened?" Jay Halstead asked his partner from the passenger seat of the squad car they were sitting in. It had been 24 hours since he had woken up to Erin Lindsay panicking about sleeping with him. She hadn't said a word about it to him since, nevermind, returned his voicemails or texts. He was hurt, to say the least.

"What happened?" she asked, playing dumb.

Jay gave her an exasperated look before replying indignantly. "Really? This is how we are going to play this? Just ignore it?"

"It never happened, because it never should've happened." Her tone brooked no further argument. Jay, however, pressed on.

"Well, I like you-" He started, but Erin cut him off before he could finish his confession.

"What the fuck for? Halstead, I'm not even nice to you," she almost snorted. He really had some weird understanding of their relationship, but she had no problem clearing it up for him.

"Halstead, we're not friends and we certainly never will be anything more. We're partners. We don't fuck. So all of this," she gestured wildly with her right hand, "whatever you think it is, it just isn't."

"If this is some kind of defense mechanism, I'm not going to be deterred by it. I know you have trust iss-" Erin interrupted him again. He was overstepping and she was definitely not going to stand for it.

"I don't have _trust_ issues, Halstead," Erin seethed, emphasizing his diagnosis of her, "you don't know me."

"I know I don't. We've been partners for, what, three years? I don't know anything about you." He'd tried to get to know her, he truly had, but she would always deflect the topic away from herself.

"And you don't need to. We're partners, not 12 year old girls. If you want it to stay that way, drop it!" Why was that so hard for him to understand?

"I don't want another partner." Jay almost sounded like a hurt puppy, but her patience was wearing thin.

"Okay, then you need to stop right now. I don't want anything to do with you outside of work, got it?" she snapped. Jay shut his mouth, realizing he was on thin ice. Thankfully, a moment later they got a call about a robbery ten blocks away; neither of them could wait to respond.

* * *

This can't be happening, Erin thought as she stood across the street from her apartment complex, her eyes watching the building being swallowed by flames. It was reduced to it's original brick shell. The roof and several floors had collapsed in on the structure. Just by looking at it, she could tell that everything she owned and was gone.

The entire day, (heck the past two months since the hookup with Halstead) had been horrible, and now this? She had turned onto her block, only to be met with the sight of fire engines and ladder trucks. All she had with her was her purse, badge, and gun.

"Excuse me?" she asked an elderly black gentleman a few feet away, "W-what...how did this start?" She was surprised at her own uneasy voice.

"Electrical," the man mumbled, obviously in shock. He likely was a resident of the building as well, although she was sure she'd never seen him before. For a split, paranoid second, she had wondered if she'd turned her curling iron off.

Erin didn't even wait for the fire department to explain anything, she knew there was no way she could salvage anything, let alone that she could stay there. By the time the fire department put out the flames, there would be nothing left but ash and rubble. Her first thought was going to Voight's, before she remembered she couldn't. She swallowed hard, knowing whom she would have to ask.

A few minutes later, Erin Lindsay entered his apartment complex. It was slightly strange being back, but she really didn't have a choice. She felt pathetic for it. How had her life turned into such a mess? And now she didn't even have anywhere else to go.

He would know soon anyway, she rationalized as she made her way to his door. They would have to talk eventually, so maybe this wasn't as inappropriate as it felt. Maybe this was the push she needed. If only she wasn't so scared.

When she reached his apartment door, she hesitated for a second before gathering all her courage and giving three strong knocks: surely loud enough to wake up anyone sleeping in the neighboring apartments.

Jay groaned wondering who on earth was at his door at 11:00pm. He shuffled his bare feet to the door, cursing to himself at the rude awakening. Looking through the peephole, he saw familiar golden locks. He unchained the door and pulled it open, "Erin?"

"Can I come in?" Erin looked up at her partner. She could practically feel the courage deserting her.

"Yeah, sure." Jay stepped aside to let Erin in. She walked in and stood off to the side as he closed the door behind him. "What's going on?" Her eyes were bloodshot and the tip of her nose was red, a clear sign she had been crying.

"You haven't seen the news?" Erin watched him flick the TV on and turn to the local news. Headlines ran across the screen: _Electrical fire takes down apartment building leaving twenty families homeless_. Jay's eyes widened in shock, he needed to sit. Once he settled into the couch cushions he turned his attention to partner, "Are you okay?"

Erin gave him a small shrug and pushed off where she was leaning against the wall, "I'll live." She took a seat in the armchair that was from across from the couch. "Can I use your laptop? I'm going to see if I can book a hotel for a few-"

Jay quickly shook his head and put his hand up to stop her from speaking, "Nonsense, you can take my bed. I'll crash on the couch until you get things in order."

Erin let out a grateful sigh but shot him a look, "One condition: You stay on the couch. We are not having a repeat of last time."

"Oh don't worry; it won't happen again." Jay scoffed.

Erin folded her arms over her chest, "You're damn right it won't," she gave him a promising warning. The room fell silent for a few minutes.

"Hey Halstead," she called out to him in a quiet raspy voice "you know Voight is deep undercover, has been for a few months, so thank you." She hadn't been too nice to him in recent weeks and she knew he was being kinder to her than she probably deserved.

Jay gave her a soft smile, "It's no problem, I know you'd do the same for me."

Erin only smiled at him in response.

After another bout of quietness Erin let out a yawn. He looked over to his partner who looked exhausted. "Are you going to go to bed now?"

Erin gave him a short nod and looked down at the pair of jeans and blouse she'd been wearing all day. "Do you, um... have anything I could wear?"

"Yeah, follow me." Jay stood up from the couch and walked with his partner to his bedroom. Jay pulled open the second drawer of his dresser. He rummaged through the neatly rolled up tshirts. He picked out an olive green Army Strong tee. "It was a little snug on me." Jay glanced at Erin's petite frame, "Might be a bit a big on you though."

Erin took the t shirt and held it up to her chest, "Thanks. It should be fine."

"Okay, I'm going to use the bathroom then I'll be out of your way."

Jay made his way to the bathroom while Erin took the opportunity to strip off her blouse and shimmy into the t-shirt. Jay was right, it was a bit too big on her. Erin nestled into the bed, covering her legs with the sheet that was bunched up from when Jay had laid in it last. It smelled like him too.

When he came out of the bathroom a minute later, she was fast asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Here's chapter five! We had it finished yesterday. Thanks again to coffeebeanner, imthequeenoffandoms and the deepest secret!**

 **Enjoy! ;)**

The next morning, Jay woke up with a stiff neck from having slept on the couch. Still, after Erin had turned up at his doorstep with teary eyes and a red nose, he was glad she had chosen to stay with him.

As Jay went to use the en suite bathroom, he walked past a sleeping Erin, no longer curled up under the comforter. The shirt he had lent her had ridden up, exposing her stomach as she was sprawled across the bed. He blinked. His mouth suddenly seemed as dry as a desert. Finally tearing his eyes away from her, he swallowed nervously and ran a hand over his face before continuing into the bathroom.

When Jay came out of the bathroom a few minutes later, she was no longer in bed. He wandered out to the kitchen where he found her getting a bowl down from the cabinet. He watched her from the doorway for a moment, unnoticed, trying to find the words to ask her what he had been wondering for the last twenty minutes.

"How long?" He finally voiced, walking into the kitchen. He knew the question was blunt, but he didn't know how to approach the topic other than just to ask her directly. He had noticed earlier that her usually flat stomach was now rounder and it had immediately clicked for him. He had to know.

Erin didn't turn to look at him,"What?"

"How how long have you known that you're pregnant?" Jay pressed, seeing her freeze in place.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Erin replied nonchalantly before resuming what she was doing.

"Your shirt rode up in your sleep," he proved, unscrewing the cap on a jar of whey protein.

"What, are you watching me sleep?" She scoffed. Changing the topic might work.

"No, I have to go through my room to get to the bathroom." He was losing patience with her continued evasion of his original question.

"Well, I'm not pregnant," Erin insisted. It was a foolish attempt at deflection, her slightly rounded abdomen couldn't mean much else than what he was suggesting, but she was internally panicking now and denial was the only reaction that came naturally.

Taking extra caution to make sure her loosely fitting shirt didn't ride up again, she grabbed the cereal from atop the refrigerator and busied herself with making her breakfast. She hoped he would just drop the conversation.

Of course, he didn't. Instead, he came to stand directly next to her and, before she had a chance to shift out of his reach, lifted her shirt up to reveal her belly.

"Stop it, don't touch me," she seethed, shoving his hands away and adjusting her shirt so it was properly covering her again as she stepped away from him.

"Sorry, I...uh… I shouldn't have done that," he mumbled,holding up his hands as he realized his mistake. Choosing to ignore his apology, she just went back to making her cereal in silence.

Jay ran a hand over his face, "You know, I'm not an idiot, Erin," he finally said with a sigh.

"It's none of your damn business, Halstead!" She was still fuming at his persistence.

"Its my kid, too. I have a right to know."

"Your kid? How do you even know it's your kid?" Erin said in disbelief at his assumption, "I can get laid you know, Halstead."

"Because I realized we had unprotected sex."

"Yeah, because you couldn't be bothered to put on a condom!" She was clearly laying the blame at his feet. "What a fucking teenage boy," she mumbled disgruntled.

"Erin I just realized when I saw your-" Erin talked right over him.

"Exactly, you didn't think, at all! You were too horny to use a condom. And now I have to pay the price!"

They both fell silent as she clamped her hand over her mouth, realizing what she'd just revealed.

"I knew it," Jay said disappointed, looking down, "You weren't going to tell me, were you?" Erin didn't respond. When he looked up, he saw her with one arm across her body and the other over her mouth, tears silently streaming down her face. He suddenly wasn't mad anymore.

"Hey, hey," Jay put down his protein shake and moved so he was standing in front of Erin; he almost felt like he was standing over her, she was so much shorter than him. He cautiously reached out and touched her arm, almost positive that she would move away, but she didn't. Her sobs only increased. He took the opportunity to wrap her in his arms and was surprised when she walked into them.

"I'm not going anywhere," he promised her stroking her hair and felt her nod against his chest. She had finally surrendered to his charms, and felt so lost and alone, she no longer cared.

* * *

Later that afternoon Jay offered to take Erin to the mall to find some clothes since hers were charred. Plus, Erin's swollen stomach was protruding slightly in her regular t shirts.

"I don't get this." Jay eyed Erin as she flipped through what would've been her third rack of clothes. She had only placed four tops out of the fifteen she had picked up into the shopping cart that Jay was pushing. She put most of them back because she was indecisive.

"Get what?" Erin held up a red top to her chest, "Bleh." she grumbled as it was too small and hung it back on the rack.

"This…" Jay spanned his arms out wide along the clothing racks, "You keep putting things back." Erin settled on a grey t shirt, placing it in shopping cart. "Isn't there like a rack for pregnant women?" Jay asked curiously.

"You mean maternity?" Erin looked up at Jay before she walked over to shelf of jeans. Erin looked down at her swollen abdomen, her jeans were getting a little snug. "I don't need those yet." she grabbed a pair of jeans and held them to her hips, she nodded to herself and placed them in the cart along with a jacket she found on clearance earlier.

"But will it fit over your stomach the same?" he asked, glancing down, "What does it feel like?" Boy, he was full of questions.

"It just feels like I'm fat," she answered truthfully. She just felt like she'd gained a little weight around the belly, even though her abdomen was firm and taut.

"But it's not fat, it's a baby," he told her as if she didn't know. "You mean you don't feel the baby move or anything?

"I know I'm not fat, Halstead. I'm only 8 weeks along, it moves but you can't really feel it until like 20 weeks," she shared, "it's the size of a kidney bean apparently."

Jay was grateful that she was in a better mood than she was this morning. She was even engaging in conversation with him, a rare moment he didn't take for granted. "So you don't feel pregnant? No morning sickness or anything?"

"Not yet."

"What about this one?" Jay held up a coral pink top before checking the tag, "it's a large."

"Do I look large to you?" she asked sarcastically before going to another rack.

"You said you didn't want to get maternity clothes yet. With a large, you can wear it when you get bigger."

Erin rolled her eyes, "I just want to buy these clothes for right now. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it."

"Isn't there special vitamins you have to take? Have you started those yet?"

"Yeah I started them but they went up in flames. I'll have to get more."

"I think I saw a pharmacy next door when we parked, I can see if they have any vitamins there." Erin just nodded. "Is there anything special I ask for? Do they need to know how far along you are?"

"Halstead!" Erin would have screamed at him had she not been in public.

"What?" he stopped abruptly almost bumping Erin with the shopping cart.

"Stop! Just shut up! I don't know." She didn't know, but she was overwhelmed, he was asking way too many questions. She hadn't come to terms with her pregnancy enough to answer him without losing it.

"Okay, I'm sorry. Do you wanna go?"

"Yeah, just...take me home."

Jay nodded and took the clothes she was holding, before taking them to the cashier and buying them for her.

"You didn't have to do that," Erin told him as they walked to the car.

"I know, just let me help."

* * *

Jay unlocked the door to his apartment, letting Erin walk in first before helping her bring her shopping bags into his bedroom. While Erin used the bathroom Jay unpacked the clothes and sat them out on the bed. He went over to his dresser, shoving his second drawer clothes into the third. Then he walked over to the bed and piled the new clothes of Erin's and placed them in the now empty drawer.

Jay bunched up the plastic shopping bags and stuffed them in the cloth bag dispenser before plopping down on the couch. He put one arm over the back of the cushions and rested the other on the armrest before grabbed the remote and flipped through the channels.

Erin walked out of the bedroom a puzzled look on her face, "Did you move my clothes?"

Jay nodded, not looking up from the TV. "I made room in my dresser."

"Oh." Jay couldn't see the small smile that formed on her lips, "Thanks."

Jay finally looked up at Erin and smiled. He finally did something right.

"Wanna watch TV?" Jay asked, scooting over on the couch to make room for her.

Erin hesitantly took a seat, "Sure."

"You can pick," he offered, handing the remote to her but she didn't take it.

"I'm good."

His eyes darted from her face to her stomach before he cleared his throat. "Do you think- um, can I feel...?" he stammered.

Erin looked up at him.

"I'm sorry nevermind."

"No it's fine, you can."

He hesitantly crossed his left hand over his body and gently placed his it on her slightly swollen abdomen. "I can't believe there is a baby in there."

Erin looked at him and laughed a bit. He had a stupid grin on his face. "I looked online and I'm pretty big for eight weeks."

"Maybe it's twins," he teased "How cool would that be?"

Erin laughed, "Not very cool, I'm too little to give birth to one baby let alone two."

"Did I tell you that my brother and I were nine and ten pounds when we were born?" Jay asked with a mischievous grin; he wasn't lying though.

"Oh great," Erin rolled her eyes, "delivering is going to be fun." Jay just winked at her.

Minutes passed with his hand still on her stomach before she spoke up, "You're not going to bail after the baby is born are you? Cause then it'll hit you that it's a real baby and-"

Jay pulled her close to him with his right arm "Erin, I am not leaving you," Jay said, beginning to gently rub circles on her stomach with his thumb, "or this baby."

Erin relaxed more into Jay's touch, "Thanks, Jay." Jay smiled; his name sounded amazing rolling off her lips, he wasn't sure if she'd ever called him by anything but his last name before.

She leaned her back against his chest and she swung her legs up on the couch, getting into a comfortable position; and boy, was he comfortable. "Of course."


	6. Chapter 6

**This one's sort of a filler, it has been equally worked on by myself, coffeebeanner and the deepest secret. We're currently working on chapter 7! We are getting these out so fast. Things will be changing soon!**

 **Enjoy!**

"Let's see if Johnson is back from Plano," Jay Halstead laughed as he and Erin drove up to the 14th district before the start of their shift. His comment pulled Erin from her thoughts. She had been mulling over last night, which to her surprise had gone so much better than she had expected. He had taken the news amazingly well and even managed to ease her worries. For once she didn't mind that he had seen her so vulnerable. Maybe they could do this together.

Remembering that she still hadn't said anything in response, she tried to concentrate on what Jay had said. Something about Johnson's vacation, right?

"Does he have family there? I heard him talking about going there last week, but I thought he was joking," Erin said as they got out of the car and started the walk towards the building. Philip Johnson was a strange one, indeed. Nearly everything he did was out of the ordinary. He wasn't very good police either.

Jay laughed, "No! That's the funny thing! He just went for vacation, who goes on vacation to Plano, Texas? And for a week?" Erin laughed in response to Jay's reaction to their coworker's ridiculously boring sounding vacation.

Jay turned his head to the left and down a little bit to look at Erin. She looked amazing, even in a police uniform. If you didn't know to look, you wouldn't be able to tell, but he could see the very slight swell just above her waistband where his child was growing. He couldn't help but beam at her. "You have a nice laugh," he said truthfully, without even thinking.

"Thanks," Erin blushed, not really knowing what to say. She couldn't fight the smile and rosy cheeks either when Jay held the front door open for her moments later.

The lobby of the Shakespeare district was abuzz with the chatter of officers, either beginning or finishing their shifts. The two partners were about to head to the locker rooms when their desk sergeant, Sergeant Marino shouted out.

"Detective Halstead!"

Jay heard his name, but it wasn't prefaced with the correct title; he was an officer. He looked over at the sergeant with a confused look before heading towards him. Erin followed, even more confused. Marino knew that they were patrolmen.

"Sarge-" Jay began but was interrupted by Marino's hearty laugh.

"Congratulations, Halstead!" he said in a thick Chicago accent, sticking his hand out towards Jay, "you passed the detective exam! Highest score in years!"

The corners of Jay's mouth turned up into a big smile and he shook the Sergeant's hand. "Thank you sir!"

"Unfortunately, there's no spots in any units right now, but Deputy Chief Calloway requested you." Jay knew that name; he was the commanding officer of the academy. "He wants you to teach a firearms and a close combat class." He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"I'd love to!" Jay responded immediately, still a little shocked at how lucky this week was turning out to be.

"All right, I'll let him know and get you the info," Sergeant Marino said with a smile before turning and helping another patrolman.

"Wow," Jay breathed out as he turned away from the desk so he was facing Erin, giving her an infectious smile.

Erin wasn't quite sure what to say to him. This had to be a joke, right? He was leaving, when just last night he had promised her that he'd be there for her, fully aware that he wouldn't be able to keep this promise for long. Anger started to bubble up inside her; anger at him for betraying her, but also at herself for having been foolish enough to believe his empty words. She'd be on her own as always.

She swallowed hard. Not wanting to give him the satisfaction of letting him see how much his news had rattled her, she took a deep breath and schooled her features.

"Congratulations Halstead!" She held out her hand for him to take and after a very stiff handshake hastily made her way to the locker rooms without ever meeting his eyes.

Jay went to follow her, but Erin had already put her belongings into the locker before he even made it into the room. Everyone had apparently heard about the news and was intend on congratulating him. He was still shaking hands and receiving pats on the shoulder when Erin, with a loud bang of her locker door, shoved past him to get the keys to their squad car for the day.

When he finally made it outside, he found her already waiting in the car, ready to start the car.

"All set?" He asked her lightly to diffuse the thick atmosphere in the car once he was seated. He wasn't sure what he had done, but she wasn't even looking at him.

Two hours and a call to a domestic disturbance (which had turned out to be a fight about the wife's cooking) later, she still hadn't directed a word at him, at least not unless it was work related.

"Did I do something wrong?" Jay finally spoke directing his gaze from the streets to Erin. He noticed Erin gripped the steering wheel tighter as he hit a nerve. "Erin?" he pressed.

"No, everything is fine." Erin tried to keep the anger out of her voice, not wanting to give Jay any indication that she was in fact not fine. She wasn't quite successful.

He turned down the corners of his mouth, "You don't sound fine," Jay countered, which only aggravated her further.

"Well, I am, Halstead," she nearly spat. He was getting under her skin and she did not like it. "Let's just focus on work, okay?"

"Work," he repeated with a nod, "sounds good."

However, a few moments later Jay was still mulling over what was going on with her.

"You can talk to me, you know. I'm your partner." He finally said, unable to let it go.

"Am I your _partner_ though!?" The venom in her voice made him stagger slightly. Suddenly it dawned on him what she was so worked up about.

"You are mad that I won't be your partner anymore?" Try as he might he could not keep the little smirk off his face at the knowledge that she would miss him. "Come on, it won't be so bad. You have to go on desk duty anyway."

This, however turned out to be the wrong thing to say as her head snapped around to stare daggers at him. "You know what?! This is none of your business. I'm a good cop, I don't need you and I sure as hell don't need to go on desk duty anytime soon!" Her voice was slightly louder than she had intended, but it managed to finally silence him.

Jay knew that Erin was a good cop, a great cop at that. One of the best he has been partnered with. Did she think he wasn't going to miss her? Of course, he was, but the new job was a great opportunity for him and he wondered why she would blame him for pursuing it. Surely, she knew that he would always be there for her and the baby. He had no intention of letting her go. For the first time they were actually moving towards something more. He wouldn't give her up now that she was finally within his reach. He would be there for them. That would never change.

Many times throughout their shift Jay wanted to speak up, but every time he was about to open his mouth, Erin's stinging words rang through his mind: " _It's none of your business!"_ and " _I don't need you."_ So he stayed silent until it was the end of their shift and nothing had been said at all since the incident earlier that day.

The ride back to Jay's apartment was equally quiet and tense. Erin bolted from the car as soon as she had put it in park. With a sigh Jay quickly followed behind her, but as he was about to catch up with her, she just picked up her pace, so she disappeared behind his apartment door ahead of him.

Jay let out a sigh as he entered his apartment shortly after her. He toed off his boots and rubbed his temples as a headache hit him like a ton of bricks. Walking through the bedroom to get to the bathroom for some aspirin he noticed the door was shut. Before turning the knob, he pressed his ear to the door, hearing the labored breaths of Erin followed by heaves. Just as he was about to knock he heard the toilet flush and the water run. She almost ran into him when she opened the door minutes later, because he still hadn't moved..

"Hey." Jay was unsure how to react. Had she been feeling sick the whole day? Concern spread through him, replacing some of the confusion from earlier. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Erin hummed, shuffling to the couch. Maybe laying down would settle the flip flopping of her stomach. She rubbed small circles to her swollen abdomen trying to relax.

Meanwhile Jay had found the aspirin in his bathroom and went to get a bottle of water. Two steps into the kitchen, however, he backtracked and stuck his head back out. "Erin, do you want some water, too?"

"Yes, please," she called back, before adding "do you mind if I use your laptop for a bit?" She needed to look for a new place to live. Whatever they had going on right now clearly wasn't working out. She wouldn't wait until it blew up in her face even more than it already had.

"Sure." Jay answered from the kitchen. He was completely oblivious to her motive.


	7. Chapter 7

**Okay, here's 7 to make up for 6 which I didn't like very much. Credit goes to the same people!**

 **Hope you like it better, and we have hope for Linstead!**

A soft knock stirred Erin from her sleep. She had been sleeping in Will's room for a few nights now since he was always at work or staying at his new girlfriend's place anyway; however, she was still a little disoriented when she opened her eyes and found herself in the strange bedroom.

 _Tap tap._ The knocking was a bit louder now. "Erin, are you awake? Can I come in?" She heard Jay calling from the other side of the door. She let out a short laugh at how cautious he sounded, not that she could really blame him. Things had been strained since she had found out that he had made detective two weeks ago. However, she wasn't really mad at him anymore, having resolved to not let him get to her, because she could do this like she did everything else, on her own. Since she had yet to find a new apartment, she had suggested that she move to Will's bedroom when he wasn't there, so Jay could claim his own bed again. It had been obvious that sleeping on the too small couch had taken it's toll on him. Besides, being in his bedroom made her feel strangely vulnerable, and that was the one thing she did not want to be around him.

"Yeah, come in!" she finally called out once she had woken up enough to face him.

"Good morning," He gave her a cheeky grin, clearly in a good mood. "I, uh, I'm gonna head out for a bit. I have to go to the academy to do some paperwork before I start on monday. I just wanted to let you know..." He trailed of as his eyes rested on her face.

"Oh, okay." She said, trying to smooth her hair; his stare was making her a bit self-conscious.

"So, I'll see you later?" He had meant it as a statement, but it came out as question. Sometimes he thought she might be gone when he came back. They were still trying to find their balance with each other and he was afraid that somehow the scale would tip to a point where she would leave.

"Yeah, sure." Erin replied, sliding slowly off the bed. She had learned the hard way that moving about too fast after getting up would make her morning sickness that much worse. Following him out of the room, she came to stand in the living room, where she watched him close the front door with a soft thud.

As soon as he was gone she went to look for his laptop. She had some time before she had her first prenatal doctor's appointment today, so she figured she might as well put it to use and look for a new appartment. Locating the computer on the couch, she bent to pick it up. Unfortunately, the movement made her stomach turn, prompting her to quickly run into the bathroom and throw up what little she had in it.

When the heaving finally subsided, she brushed her teeth and started getting ready for the day, choosing to abandon the apartment hunt in favor of a long, relaxing shower. She could always do it after her appointment, when she didn't feel so sick.

* * *

"Erin Lindsay?" Erin's head snapped up at the nurse in the flower printed scrubs calling out her name. "Come on back."

Standing up, she followed the nurse through the door and into a hallway. "Let's get your weight, all right?" Erin stepped onto the scale.

"125! You're up five pounds!" the nurse exclaimed, writing the number down in Erin's chart.

"Is that a lot?" Erin asked, nervously. She had no idea what expect, after all it was her first time being pregnant and she had not read up on it much.

"No, it just means you'll have a healthy, strong baby," The nurse reassured her with a warm grin.

Erin gave a small a smile and followed the nurse into the exam room where the nurse took her vitals and asked a few questions. "Here, we'll need you to take off your pants and put this drape on over your legs. Doctor Sullivan will be with you shortly," she said before slipping out the door.

After feeling completely uncomfortable while changing, Erin sat back on the bed. As promised, a few minutes later, two short knocks came at the door before a tall blonde woman in a lab coat walked in. "Hello, Ms Lindsay, how are things going?"she asked with a smile, extending her hand towards Erin, who shook it and returned the smile.

"Good, they're good," Erin replied.

"All right, well, usually ten weeks is when we do the first pelvic exam, so we'll do that and then we'll take a look at your baby all right?" She didn't have much choice did she? Erin just nodded and after an uncomfortable pelvic exam, Doctor Sullivan moved around he to the ultrasound machine, pushing on some buttons, which Erin didn't know the use of.

"All right, ready to see your baby?" Doctor Sullivan's questions were becoming rhetorical because Erin wasn't sure what to say. She lifted Erin's shirt over her small belly and squirted ultrasound gel onto it. After moving the wand around on her skin for a few seconds, a blurry black and white image appeared on the monitor, which Erin didn't quite know how to read, but she could see it moving.

"There's your baby!" Erin couldn't help but grin widely; as conflicted as she was about this whole situation, in that moment she loved her baby very much. "There's the head, and that's its torso, and it's little arms and legs!" Doctor Sullivan explained as she pointed to the different parts of the image and pushed several buttons on the machine. Erin was mesmerized as her eyes hungrily took in the tiny movements. And then, all too soon for her liking, the gel was being wiped off her skin.

"Doctor," Erin asked still staring at the black screen, where her baby had just been seconds before "do you think I could get a copy of the picture?"

"Sure, I'll print you out a bunch," she told Erin before standing up from the stool, "Do you have any questions?" Erin had so many questions but for some reason, couldn't think of any at the moment so she just shook her head.

"That's all right, well here's some info you should read through," Doctor Sullivan handed Erin a few tri-folded pamphlets, "you get dressed while I print the ultrasound pictures out. They will be waiting for you at the front desk, where you can also schedule our next appointment, all right?"

"Yes, thank you." Erin replied, still a bit dazed at what she had experienced just minutes ago. Before she knew it she was already driving home with a small smile on her lips. It wouldn't go away and she didn't want it to.

Unfortunately, the smile did fade as a wave of nausea hit her in the elevator up to Jay's apartment. Fumbling with the key, she finally opened the door and in a rush dropped her keys, purse and pamphlet onto the end table. Covering her mouth with her hand as she barely made it inside and to the toilet before she vomited...and then again. Lying down was the only thing that made her feel remotely better, so, after having brushed her teeth, Erin retreated back to bed.

* * *

 **"Erin?" Jay called out an hour later when he got home from a day of last minute business at the police academy. Looking unsuccessfully for her in the living room and kitchen, he noticed that the door to the second bedroom was firmly shut. Had she not moved all day?**

Upon knocking softly and receiving no answer at all, he slowly opened the door and peeked his head inside. She was fast asleep. Leaning on the doorframe, he smiled, she truly was beautiful. His eyes moved to focus on the swell in her abdomen where their child was nestled, growing. He felt like the luckiest guy in the world; he couldn't wait to meet their child, to be a father.

Deciding to let her rest, Jay made his way over to the couch. The White Sox should've still been in the first few innings of their game at Minnesota. As he reached for the remote on the end table, he saw some pamphlets. They had photos of happy pregnant women and smiling baby faces on them. "Your Pregnant Body" and "Month By Month Fetal Development" they read.

It took him only seconds to put two and two together: she had been to her first doctor's appointment…and he hadn't even known about it. All of the glee he had felt up until this moment vanished in an instant, leaving him disappointed and angry. He had a right to know, a right to be there. Why wouldn't she let him?

Before he knew it, he was back in the door frame of the room where Erin slept. "Erin, where'd you get these?" he asked gripping the pamphlets in his hand, not even bothering to wake her.

She opened her eyes and yawned, not sure what was going on. "Hey, you're back!" She smiled, still on a high from seeing her baby for the first time.

"Where'd you get these?" Jay repeated, holding up the pamphlets, but she was already digging in a manila file folder she had grabbed off the night stand.

"I had a check up, look!" Erin, exclaimed happily, as she pulled out the largest size of the ultrasound photo and held it out so he could see.

His eyes focused on the picture in her hand. His baby. Their baby. "Why didn't you tell me you went to the doctor?" he said, trying to tear his eyes off of the photo of his child. He came in this room for a reason but it was soon forgotten as he fixated on the square piece of paper.

Erin shrugged, "I didn't think it'd be that big of a deal." She really hadn't thought much about it before she had left this morning. However, she had come back a different person. He had had every right to witness that wonder, too; to feel the same reverence she had felt upon seeing her baby for the first time. She realized now that he should have been there. He would have wanted to.

"Of course it is, this is my baby too," Jay explained, as he stepped forward and took the ultrasound photo in his hands. He could see the head, limbs and torso. Tears came to his eyes as he stared at the blurry, colorless image. "Woah."

Erin looked up at Jay, he had wet eyes and a stupid grin plastered on his face. She was smiling too now; the brightest and most genuine smile she had ever given him.

"That's in there?" Jay asked incredulously as he gestured to Erin's belly. Her smile only became impossibly wider in response, her head bobbing up and down slowly . "Haha!" he laughed happily before scooping her up from where she was standing by the bed and effortlessly twirling her around in his arms. Once she was firmly back on solid ground, he pulled her into a hug and held her for a few seconds.

"This is my baby too, Erin. Don't ever think I don't want to be included in this." Jay mumbled, his face still buried in Erin's hair. He had a hard time letting her go. When he finally did, he kept his eyes trained on hers. "I want to be there for every little thing."

Erin nodded, for the first time really understanding that he meant his promise, "Of course, I'm sorry."

Jay looked onto the bed at the pamphlets he discarded when he lifted Erin from the bed. "If you want, we can look through these together now?" Erin asked after a moment of silence.

Jay smiled and nodded, "Oh, yeah! I want to know as much about your pregnancy as I can." He had already started gathering the brochures. He made his way to the couch as Erin followed behind closely. She, too, was curious to see what the next stages of her pregnancy were going to be like. She hadn't really been excited before today, but now, talking with him and remembering the way her heart had fluttered, when she had looked at the sonogram, she was. She sat down next to him as he grabbed the first pamphlet.

"All right, what've we got?" Jay asked flipping to the first page, "Your Pregnant Body," he read aloud before pointing to her, "all right, we've got one of those." The two began to read through the first page. After barely three sentences Erin scooted closer to him, leaning on him slightly. She could read better that way.

"The pregnancy glow: Your face will be fuller and your complexion will be shinier due to more oil glands," Erin read out loud , "oh great, not only will my belly get big but my face has to too?"

"You're still gonna be beautiful though," he commented, looking at her with a smile, "pregnancy looks good on you."

"You're an idiot," Erin scoffed mid-blush and shoved his shoulder lightly. He only put a strong arm around her neck, pulling her close to him and kissing her hair.

"You bet."


	8. Chapter 8

_**Here's chapter 8! It was really long so we split it into 8 and 9, which I'll post tomorrow. I hope this one is better than the last few for you guys, we're trying to make things a little less volatile.**_

 ** _Enjoy!_**

"You stuck me with a pregnant cop?" Erin heard from who she guessed what was her new partner on Friday as she walked into the 14th district. Jay had just dropped her off before going to his second week of teaching marksmanship.

Erin hesitantly walked up to meet her new partner. "Erin Lindsay." she extended her hand to the olive skinned woman.

The new partner flipped her curly black hair from her face before grabbing Erin's hand, giving it a less than enthusiastic handshake. "Daniela Ramos."

Erin pursed her lips in a small smile. This was going to be an interesting day.

As soon as they got out to the squad car, Daniela made a beeline for the driver's seat.

"Nuh-uh," Erin shook her head and pursed her lips, "I drive."

"Says who?" Daniela asked.

"Says me, scooch." Erin walked around to the driver's side of the car and got in.

"So you're pregnant, huh?" Officer Ramos asked as she got into the passenger seat of the squad car. They both buckled up as Erin shifted the car into drive.

"Yeah," Erin focused as she swerved in and out of traffic, "three months along."

"They still have you working?"

"Evidently," she clenched her jaw tightly, preventing her from saying something she'd regret.

"What happened to your old partner?"

It wasn't any of her business but Erin decided to enlighten her, "He moved up."

Twenty minutes later, the two officers received a radio call of a possible sighting of a gang member entering a house near the intersection of Spaulding and Beach, just west of the park. The wanted offender, Pablo Sosa was supposedly wearing black pants, blue shoes and a yellow jacket. Erin parallel parked across the street on the perpendicular block, almost hitting the curb.

"Jeez," Ramos grumbled, holding the handle above the door, "watch out for the curb."

Erin sighed and parked before turning to her new partner, "For your information, I received top score in my precision driving course at the police academy," That shut her new partner up quickly but not without an eyeroll of course, "I don't need your input on my driving." That was one thing that hit a nerve with Erin.

Erin unbuckled her seatbelt, giving her swollen abdomen some relief she took in her surroundings. "We're on the Humboldt Park beat, keep an eye out." She reached into the glove box and pulled out two binoculars.

"Hey, white girl, I grew up 12 blocks from here, I'm not scared of Humboldt Park."

"It's not about being scared or not, it's about being alert," Erin stated as she handed her partner a pair of binoculars, "sometimes being comfortable isn't always wise. Cops who get comfortable can miss out on a minor detail that could lead to major lead."

"I won't get comfortable," Ramos stated as a promise, "and stop talking to me like I'm a rookie."

"Good. Now grab those and look," Erin ordered pointing to the second pair of binoculars.

After an hour of sitting in the hot car, their eyes sore from having the binoculars pressed firmly to their eyes. Suddenly, the front door opened and a man in a yellow jacket, blue shoes and black pants strutted out.

"This is 14-25," Erin reported into her radio

"Go for 14-25," the dispatcher replied on the other end.

"The described male is _not_ Pablo Sosa, I repeat, _not_ Pablo Sosa."

"Thanks, 14-25, we've got a better lead across town," Erin sighed in relief as she and Daniela buckled their seatbelts. She was getting tired of staring at the same thing only to have it be a false alarm. She started the engine on the Malibu and headed back towards the district.

"So when do you go on maternity leave?" Daniela asked, breaking the silence.

"I plan on being in the field as long as the vest fits, then I'm on desk duty," Erin replied as she wove in and out of Chicago's grid of streets.

"So where is the baby's dad? He isn't like a deadbeat?"

"No he isn't a deadbeat. He is around." Erin assured her new partner.

"Why don't you talk about him then?" Ramo pressed.

"I've known you for less than a day, Ramos, nothing personal, but it took him three years of our partnership to get to where he is now."

"Oh!" Daniela was intrigued now, "Your old partner's the father?"

Erin rolled her eyes. Fuck. Hopefully she didn't know who her old partner was.

"No, he works at the academy." It wasn't a lie, but it sure didn't sound like the detective that her partner had become. Erin pulled into the parking lot of the 14th district. As soon as she shut off the car, they got out, leaving it to bake in the hot sun.

As they approached the front doors to the district, a tall man exited the building. "Halstead?" Sure enough, it was Jay Halstead in the flesh, wearing his classic jeans, boots, blue shirt and badge and gun clipped to his belt."

"Hey! I hoped I'd run into you, I was just talking with Marino about some stuff. Is this your new partner?" The guy was in a good mood, she could tell; he had an infectious smile plastered to his face.

"Yes. Daniela Ramos," Erin's new partner answered for her .

Jay held his hand out to shake her hand, "Jay Halstead, Lindsay's old partner, nice to meet you."

Erin hoped that no one had noticed her face as it paled; Ramos had seen and now wore a shit eating grin as she caught on to why Erin didn't talk about her former partner much: he was the father of her baby; not to mention he was easy on the eyes. "Nice to meet you too," Daniela replied.

"You guys got anything going on right now?" Jay asked, training his eyes on Erin, "I want to take you out."

"Out?" Erin was a bit taken aback.

"To lunch," Jay replied as if it was obvious.

Erin didn't really want to get her food from a vending machine which was what she to do since half of the food in the breakroom made her stomach churn. With a smile of relief, she took Jay up on his offer, "Sure," Erin replied meekly, not missing the way his dazzling smile got even bigger.

In the meantime, Daniela watched the two former partners exchange glances at one another. A small smirk on her face as they tried to act casual as if they didn't have a history.

"Portillo's?" Jay offered, turning to Erin after Daniela had said goodbye and headed inside the precinct.

"Where?" Erin racked her brain, but couldn't remember ever hearing that word before.

"You've never been to Portillo's?" Jay asked in disbelief. Who in Chicago hadn't heard of Portillo's? "It's a hot dog place, they've also got the _best_ chocolate cake; let's go!"

Erin's mouth watered at the sound of cake and followed him to an unmarked department issued Chevy Malibu, almost identical to the car she'd been driving only moments ago. This is what he got for working at the academy? Nice.

"Am I driving?" Erin asked as she noticed Halstead hadn't walked around to the driver's side as they approached the car.

"No, I am," Jay assured her as he opened the passenger door for her. Erin was about to protest him driving but the simple act of him opening the door for her caught her off guard. He waited for to be comfortably seated before shutting the door gently. Still stunned by the act of chivalry, she watched through the windshield as his tall striking frame walked around the front bumper and got in the driver's seat.

"Let me guess, you thought you were going to drive? Why is it that you always insist on driving?" Jay asked, starting up the car. It still smelled like new leather and now, the subtle scent of his cologne.

Erin shrugged, giving his question some thought before she answered, "I want to be control of my life. If I were to get into an accident it'll be my own fault; no one elses."

"Are you telling me you don't trust me behind the wheel?" Jay joked.

Erin let out a sigh as she rolled her eyes, "I just want to be the one responsible for my own life. How I live it, how I leave it," she bite her lip nervously as she opened up to Jay, "I don't know if it's because my mother put my life on the line for her own habits or whatever but I just feel comfortable when I'm the one driving."

"You know if you want I can pull over and we can switch spots?" He didn't want to make her uncomfortable or worried.

Erin quickly shook her head, "No, you drive. I have to learn to trust people."

Jay let a few seconds of silence fill the car before he spoke, "You can always trust me. You know that, right?"

"That's why you have back up?"

Jay smirked, "Exactly." Even though they were no longer partners they still had a bond that was instilled in them, "Some things will never change." After all, they were trained to have each other's back.

As the two walked in the restaurant, Erin gazed at the western style decor around the walls of the restaurant. Around the walls and up near the high ceiling, there was a facade of a nineteenth century building, complete with siding, windows and a clothesline. The tables were adorned with red and white checkered tablecloths, old sepia photos and barn doors. Jay led them to stand in a queue that stretched from the counters in the back, to the center of the restaurant, splitting the place in two. A picket fence formed the queue and bordered booths and dining areas.

"What do you want?" Jay asked, snapping her out of her surveillance of the decor. He had his hands in his pockets and was looking down and to his left at her.

"I don't know, what should I get?" Erin hadn't been here before, and the menu was so large, she knew she wouldn't be able to pick something by the time they got to the front of the line.

Jay turned to his right and grabbed a menu from a stack on a counter at the back of the queue before handing it to Erin. "Their Chicago style dogs are so good, that's what I'm getting."

"I had sport peppers the other day and they gave me heartburn so bad," Erin laughed; sport peppers were a crucial ingredient on a Chicago style hot dog, along with the absence of ketchup. Besides the vomiting, heartburn was another symptom of pregnancy she could do without.

"Order them without," Jay suggested.

Erin nodded and looked back to the menu, "Oh, good they have shakes, I'm obsessed with shakes."

Soon enough it was their turn to order. After Erin stumbled and stuttered through her order Jay expertly recited his as if he came here as often as he brushed his teeth. Next, they made their way down the line to pay. Without warning, Jay swiftly cut in front of Erin as she approached the register.

"We're together," he told the cashier, earning a raised eyebrow from Erin; he didn't notice. A single transaction later, and they were taking their number cards to a table.

"You wish we were together, Halstead," Erin mumbled, slightly trailing behind as she followed him. Once again, as if it were routine, he made a beeline to a particular booth along a wall of windows.

"What?" Jay snapped his head back to look at her and followed her with his eyes as they sat down.

"I'm kidding. Thanks for paying," Erin laughed at the shock and confusion on his face.

"You're welcome," Jay responded.

"Earlier in the car," Erin slowly stated, "I didn't mean to drop my mommy issues on you."

Jay was quick to stop her, "We all have issues when it comes to trusting others," he let out a sigh as he rubbed his brows, "I had hard time trusting my fellow soldiers at first. It's one thing in training, but once we got to Afghanistan, it was a completely different story."

"Why is that?"

"I felt like I had to look over my shoulder every second, even if I knew that someone was covering me."

"How'd you make it stop?"

"I had to trust them in order to get my job done; I had no choice. Once I learned that they weren't going to let me down, I eased up. I know you might take longer to trust people, with non-work related things as well, but I just want you to know that I know where you're coming from and you can trust me." Erin smiled at Jay's sincerity. She had always known, deep down, that he wouldn't ever do anything untrustworthy, but that had been over ridden by her instincts.

"So how do you like your new partner?" Jay switched the topic after their food had been brought over.

"She isn't you," Erin stated simply and went back to her milkshake. It was her favorite part of the meal she had decided and she hadn't even tried the hot dog or fries yet.

"She can't be that bad."

"Well she isn't the easiest person to get along with it," Erin let out a sigh as she looked at Jay, "I guess I just miss you...well not _you…_ I mean our partnership."

Jay couldn't help but laugh as Erin stumbled over her words, "Well I miss our partnership too. It's hard not seeing you everyday."

"But you do see me everyday at home," Erin stated.

Jay smirked, "You know what I mean."


	9. Chapter 9

_**This is a continuation of chapter 8, hope you like it as much!**_

 _ **Enjoy!**_

* * *

Erin finished chewing on a piece of buttered toast as she tapped away on Jay's laptop, Scrolling through pages of apartment listings on various websites. She had been searching for close to three weeks now. Every time she found one to her liking it seemed too high priced or had an hour commute to work. Sighing loudly, she placed the laptop next to her on the couch and got up to rinse off her plate in the kitchen.

She plopped back down on the couch, sitting cross-legged with a pillow on her slowly disappearing lap. It gave her a comfortable position knowing she would be fixated on the computer screen for hours if she was determined to find an apartment. Truth be told, she hadn't really been in a rush to find a new place in the past. She had gotten so used to living with Jay, that she was hesitant to leave. However, she didn't want to overstay her welcome, knowing that she had been imposing on Jay and his brother for much longer than she had originally intended. The apartment was definitely too small for three adults, let alone the three of them and a baby. So time was running out and she needed to put some effort into it.

Jay stepped out of his bedroom, his hair still damp from showering. He gave Erin a small smile as he stepped closer to her. "Have you been on that thing all morning?" It was almost ten and Jay had seen Erin get up only once since he had woken up.

"No." Erin sighed, "I just got up and walked to the kitchen."

Jay laughed softly, shaking his head in disbelief as he sat down next Erin. "What are you doing on that thing anyway?"

Erin turned the laptop slightly out of Jay's contact. "Nothing...just stuff."

Jay raised an eyebrow taking note at her sudden secrecy, "Baby stuff?"

He tried to scoot closer to her, looking over her shoulder but Erin was too quick and slammed the laptop shut. She tried to place the laptop on the end table next to her but Jay was able to snatch it out of her hand.

"Jay!" she groaned. Why couldn't he respect her privacy?

Jay gave her a smile of triumph as he opened the laptop. He moved his finger on the scroll pad to stop the screensaver from moving. Moving the cursor over the web browser he clicked it open. His smile soon fell as he saw open. He swallowed the lump in his throat and turned to look to Erin who hugged onto the pillow, slightly hiding behinding it. "What is this?"

Erin could hear the hurt in Jay's voice as all she could do was stare at him with her mouth open in shock. "I was just looking…"

"But why?" Jay wondered, "I thought you were fine staying here?"

Erin sighed knowing Jay would take the apartment hunt too personal, "What happens when Will comes back? I kick you to the couch?" she still hadn't left her gaze from Jay, who still clicked away at the listings. "It's not fair for you guys to move your life around because of me."

"It's not because of you Erin," Jay finally turned to look at her, "it's for you." He reached over to grab one of her hands that had been holding the pillow up close to her body. The pillow fell to the floor as Erin curled her legs under her, sinking further into the back of the couch. Jay used the pad of thumb to rub small soothing circles to her hand. "Beside, this is my apartment. I get to choose who stays and who goes."

Erin's eyes widen a bit, worry spread across her face. Jay quickly noticed her sudden expression change, "Not you! I'm referring to my brother. I'll kick his ass to the curb if I have to." Jay let out a chuckle which caused Erin to smile and shake her head.

"You can't do that to your brother."

"Why not?" Jay shrugged, "It'll be payback for the time he broke my G.I Joe."

"Seriously Halstead?" Erin smirked, "You can't hold a what...seventeen year grudge like that as a result of kicking your older brother out."

"He's not here the majority of the time anyways, he's a doctor he can afford his own place. Plus you're close to work here, it's just convenient," Jay reasoned. He knew now not to push too much too fast with her so as not to scare her off again. He looked at Erin as he still held onto her hand, "so stay."

"I'll think about it." It was all Jay asked of her. He didn't want her to jump into anything she didn't feel right about. After all, he planned on her being around since she was the mother of his child. He had to admit, he liked having her here.

Jay's phone vibrated in his pocket, he shifted as he went to reach for it. "Halstead," he answered. Erin couldn't hear much of the other end but it had to of been work because Jay mentioned something about making sure everyone was registered and the range was open. "Yes, sir, goodbye." Jay ended the call and tossed his phone behind him on the couch cushion.

"Work?" Erin wondered.

Jay nodded, "They want me to come into the academy to sub a firearms class. Do you want to come?" he offered.

That sounded like fun, she didn't have anything to do since it was Sunday and her day off. "Sure."

"Well I have to be there at noon," he informed. "Did you need to do anything before we go?"

"I think I'll shower," Erin said before getting up.

Twenty minutes and an episode of Seinfeld later, Jay looked up to see a towel clad Erin scurrying past him. "Erin, what are you doing?" he laughed as she froze. He also couldn't help but stare; she looked amazing. Her belly was poking at the towel and her growing breasts were spilling over the top of it. Water droplets dripped from her brown hair and onto the smooth skin of her shoulders.

"I forgot my underwear!" she explained, "Halstead, up here." That earned a cheeky grin from him. She knew where he was looking but for some reason, she didn't care.

"You sure you didn't just want to prance around naked in front of me?" he asked, sitting up.

Erin reacted to his comment by grabbing a thick coaster off of the coffee table and chucked it at him, "Go away!" She laughed before turning and walking to get dressed.

* * *

"Hey what'd you bring Juno here for?" Jay heard as he and Erin perused the line later that day at the shooting range. He knew that voice, it was Tommy, a cadet, also in his close combat class, who probably shouldn't still be in the police academy.

Jay whipped his head around , "Excuse me?"

Tommy didn't back down, "yeah, why's she here with a bunch of cops? Shouldn't she be on bed rest?"

That pissed Halstead off. He made his way over to stand next to Erin and faced the class, "This, cadets," Jay pointed to Erin before glaring at Tommy, "is officer Lindsay. She's good police

You respect her, you learn from her. Now she's going to show you how to use one of these brand new 9mm Glocks."

Erin proceeded to go through the steps and demonstrate safe wielding of the pistol. Jay and the rest if the class watched her closely, she was sharp precise and swift. Once she was done, the class lined up to each shoot a full magazine at the target.

As Jay roamed the class he spotted Erin walking up to a female cadet, not much taller than herself and showing her how to correctly hold her elbow. He was snapped out of his trance by the same voice. "She your girlfriend?" Tommy asked.

Jay crossed his arms and looked at the kid, "No."

"Looks like you wish she was. So that's not your kid?"

"She's my old partner, get back in line, cadet," Jay ordered firmly. He didn't have time for this kid to jerk him around about Erin.

The way Jay's "no" played on repeat in her head made Erin scold herself for the fact that her heart had sunk a little bit when she'd heard it; She had been the one to repeatedly put the distance between them, she shouldn't have felt so disappointed at him saying it out loud. Of course, she wasn't his girlfriend, so admitting to the child being his would spawn all sorts of questions? A detective who knocks his partners up? What a role model; that might as well cancel out "decorated Army Ranger."

By the time the class was over, Erin needed some space.

"Detective Halstead," she addressed him so as to appear professional in front of the cadets, "I'm going to go out for a little bit, I'll just meet you at home." Fuck, she'd said home; that wasn't professional at all. She might as well have called him Jay.

Jay nodded. "Be safe," he smiled before he saw her file out with the rest of the class. He packed up his binder of lesson plans and went home.

* * *

At around eleven o'clock, Erin finally returned to Jay's apartment, exhausted. She had done a good amount of shopping for maternity clothes. Her belly was getting bigger faster than she had expected and suddenly her t-shirts weren't fitting anymore.

Erin kicked off her shoes in the hallway next to Jay's and... Will's? He was home? She hadn't seen him in almost two weeks, although Jay said he had come home one afternoon when she was on shift.

Sure enough as Erin poked her head into the bedroom she'd been sleeping in for a few weeks, Will Halstead was fast asleep. She wasn't going to go in there for pajamas either. Luckily, amongst the many new articles of clothing she'd bought that evening were a pair of shorts and a cami. She went into the bathroom to change and settled on the couch.

After about five minutes, her back began to ache, whether or not the extra weight around her middle intensified it, she knew she wouldn't be getting much sleep. Erin immediately felt bad for not moving to Will's bed sooner. How Jay had slept there for a couple of weeks, she had no clue.

Jay was asleep comfortably in his large bed. It was only eleven at night but he was tired and no matter how hard he tried to stay up until Erin got home, he couldn't.

The sound of his wooden pocket door sliding open woke him (the army had trained him to be aware of his surroundings, even while sleeping) but he didn't open his eyes. He heard bare feet padding on the hardwood floor and a weight sink his bed a bit. Jay squinted his eyes open a tad just in time to see Erin, mid yawn, pull back the covers and lay down next to him.

Jay rolled onto his side, facing her, He smiled as he looked down; she was captivating. The way her soft, brown curls draped over her bare shoulders and thin straps of her sleep shirt. The shirt clung to her curves and outlined them impeccably. Their height difference and position gave him a perfect birdseye view of her expanding belly, where their baby was growing. "Er-" he started softly but instead of a response, Erin curled into him, burying her face in his bare chest. She didn't want to talk, lest it would make her overthink what she had just done, so she just closed her eyes. In an instant, she was asleep.

* * *

The next morning, a refreshed Erin slowly blinked awake. Tanned skin filled her vision; Jay's chest. She wiped the sleep from the corners of her eyes and held back a well rested yawn. Jay moved, "Er?" he asked softly. He still hadn't pulled his hand away from her waist.

"Hmm?" Erin asked, still snuggled comfortably against him.

"Not that I mind, but why'd you come in here?"

Erin shrugged and hummed an 'I don't know.' Insecurity started to spread through her veins at the rash decision she had made last night; maybe she had been too brave, but it had felt right last night. She had finally wanted to bridge some of the distance between them.

Jay nodded before clearing his throat. "I like you here" he boldly admitted. Bold because Erin was unpredictable. Jay half expectedly her to get up at his comment, but she remained still and even snuggled closer to him.

Erin bashfully smiled in the warm skin of Jay's chest. Maybe it had been the right call, she thought as his eyes wandered from her curved lips to her belly and he moved his hand from her waist to rest lightly on it.

As she looked up and met his eyes, she could have sworn she saw hesitation or regret for a moment before it disappeared. When she didn't say anything in protest, he kept his hand there.

"How is the baby?" he asked, cupping his large hand to the underside of her bulging abdomen where, he discovered, her shirt had ridden up a bit. The slight brush of his pinky finger over the exposed skinned caused goosebumps to form.

Jay looked down at Erin trying to figure out if what he was doing was the reason she had just rested her head against his shoulder and sighed.

"Jay?" Erin looked up at him again. Her eyes danced from his sparkling blue eyes to his lips before looking back into his eyes again. Erin sucked in a silent breath.

Jay melted under her gaze, she looked so beautiful there, looking up at him in the crook of his arm. He had a deep inclination to kiss her.

The two stared at each other, slowly moving closer, their lips barely touching.

"I'll stay," Erin blurted before they could kiss. They each moved their heads back to a comfortable distance.

Jay at first questioned what Erin meant, but it dawned on him what she was referring to. A small smile fell across his lip, "You mean are you done apartment hunting?"

Erin looked over to him, seeing his goofy grin, and nodded, "I'll stay."


	10. Chapter 10

**Look! I'm back! I almost gave up on it. We've had this one written since before I posted chapter 9 but I never got around to posting it. It's really just a filler. Should have 11 posted soon because it's done as well.**

 **Enjoy!**

"Oh! Interesting facts about pregnancy! Let's read this one!" Jay Halstead enthused to Erin as he sat sideways on the couch with his legs straight out in front of him. Since his long legs took up two cushions, Erin sat cross legged on the third, facing him. They had been looking up baby things but had gotten side tracked in the late hour.

"Okay, shoot."

"Um, let's see… oh, okay. Woah! 'If the mother damages an organ, the baby sends stem cells to her to repair it,'" he read and looked up at her with wide eyes, "that's awesome!"

"That is pretty cool." Erin agreed matching Jay's wide eyes. "What else does it say?"

"'In England, you may urinate anywhere in public, including inside a policeman's helmet if you are pregnant."

"It's doesn't say that!" Erin rolled her eyes at what she assumed was a joke. She uncrossed her legs so she was kneeling and moved to crawl in between Jay's legs to look down at the iPad. She scaled the edge of the couch with her left hand to avoid kneeling on his outstretched legs. Instantly, her hand slipped, causing her to lose her balance. Jay's lightning quick reflexes dropped the tablet and managed to swiftly catch Erin before she fell onto her belly.

"Woah, Erin!" he gasped as he gripped her by the shoulders, bending his elbows to soften her fall. "Careful. You all right?"

Erin nodded as she regained her balance, now with one knee near the back of the couch and the other at the apex of his legs. She tucked a hair behind her head, "Yeah, thanks." She didn't have to say 'thank you' because her eyes said it all as she stared into Jay's eyes. They both blinked but still didn't break eye contact as silence hit the living room.

Erin was nearly mortified when she wasn't able to suppress a yawn, snapping them both out of their trances. "Hey, you know what, it's late so I'm going to get to bed, today was a long one," Jay told her.

Erin heaved herself off the couch so she was standing on the wood floor and Jay followed.

"Night, Er," he told her as he watched her disappear into the second bedroom.

Within minutes, Jay was in bed. He'd shut all the lights off in the apartment except one on his bedside table that gave off a soft glow. It was just enough to read by as he grabbed some academy files from his nightstand; he always liked to give things a once over before he slept.

He got halfway down a page when his door slid open a foot or two. When he looked up, he saw Erin slip through the door and close it behind her.

"Hey," Jay greeted, not sure why she was in his room. He watched her as she walked around to the left side of the bed and got in. "Is Will home again?" Jay concluded; that was what had happened last night.

Erin shook her head and lay down. "No...I like it here." She couldn't deny it, although there was nothing she needed protection from, she felt safe with him in the room as she slept.

"Uh, yeah, sure." Jay gave her a small smile before looking back down at his papers. He couldn't help but watch as Erin pulled the small fleece blanket, that was folded at the end of the bed, over her feet. Her elbow sunk into the feathered pillow as she rested her head in her hand, turning her body to the side.

"I can turn this off if you want." Jay pointed to the lamp. Erin nodded and curled into his side as he slumped down so he was on his back instead of propped up by pillows.

"Night, Jay," Erin's soft voice rasped, making his heart soar.

"Night, Er."

* * *

Erin awoke the next morning, still curled into Jay's chest. She kicked her feet free from the sheets they were tangled in, waking Jay up. His eyes fluttered open to see Erin looking up at him, a dimpled grin on her face.

"Morning," he groaned and allowed his body to stretch slightly aware that Erin still remained close to him. Without even thinking, he draped his his top arm over her body, resting his hand on the small of her back. The slightest touch caused Erin to scoot further into his chest, her hair falling in front of her face; tickling the side of her cheek and cascading over onto Jay's chest. Without opening her eyes she tucked the stray hair behind her ear.

Once her hair was out of the way she rested her head back on him and mumbled something into his chest, her soft lips brushing against his skin. The hand she had used to move her hair now was rubbing protectively on her abdomen. He found she did that more often as the bulge became more prominent; it was an automatic resting place for her hands. As she moved her hand up and down on her belly, the back of her hand grazed Jay's abs.

Jay liked the way it felt when Erin was laying next to him. Just to have her there, her and their baby there, was the greatest feeling. He was able to watch over them, to hear the soft breaths as Erin subconsciously drew circles on her belly. A sort of soothing mechanism; a trance. He could get used to all of this. This moment: Erin in his bed with him, her head on his chest, his arm over her body; he wouldn't want to go back to before this moment now that he knew what he'd miss out on.

"Hey baby," Jay mumbled, subconsciously placing his hand over Erin's on her belly, "I'm your daddy." Erin looked up at Jay and smiled but he was staring where their hands touched. "I can't wait to meet you."

Erin watched as Jay delicately rubbed her belly, whether it was hormones or not, tears trickled down her face as a smile spread across it.

"Hey, what's that, are you crying?" Jay noticed when a tear dripped onto his skin. His eyes were filled with concern. Did he do something wrong? He slowly began to pull his hand away but Erin was quick, grabbing his wrist so his hand remained firmly on her belly. "I'm fine." Erin sniffled, "I'm happy, that's all." she picked her head up to wipe the tears from her eyes and off of Jay's skin.

"You are?" Jay brought his gaze up from where Erin still gripped tightly to his wrist to give her a small smirk.

Erin nodded and released Jay's wrist, resting her head back down on Jay's chest, "I don't want to go to work."

"Me either so do you mind if I lay here with you two for a bit longer?"

Erin answered without words, only nodding as she moved closer to him. Jay started to rub circles on her belly again, smoothing out the wrinkles of her camisole. Each rotation of his hand caused Erin's camisole to ride up exposing her rounded belly to the breeze coming from the open window. Goosebumps covered her legs, arms and belly as a shiver was sent down her spin.

Erin snuggled further into Jay's body, giving her the warmth she desired. Jay noticed her chilled skin and sat up slightly, using the bending of his legs to push the throw blanket further up his body. He removed his hand from Erin's belly just to cover them both, before returning to rub circles. Ever so often he'd pull her camisole down to cover her as it started to rise up.

Jay wasn't sure if her lips brushed his skin with a kiss or if it was just her settling into him. Erin hummed into his chest, "Thank you."


End file.
